Chapter 281 The True Face of the Little Bowl 1
Mazao summoned another photo for reading and writing, then closed her eyes, seemingly engrossed in imagining the appearance of the small bowl.
Simply printing an imagined scene onto a photo book wouldn't require this level of dedication. This matter is clearly very important to her, so she is likely striving for perfection and not allowing even the slightest deviation in the image printed on the photo book.
A few seconds later, a human image appeared on the blank photo. Asahi opened her eyes again, looked down at it, and repeatedly checked the information inside, as if she were filling out an important form.
A moment later, she solemnly handed the photo to me.
I reached out and took the photograph, looking at the person in it. This was the first time I had seen Xiaowan's true face. Until now, Xiaowan had always communicated with me in the virtual world as a shadow, and in my memory, she had always been shrouded in a blurry veil. But now, with Mazao's help, that veil had finally been lifted, and her true face was revealed to me. I felt a little impatient.
Unsurprisingly, the girl in the photo is a young girl around ten years old.
She had neatly trimmed, medium-length black hair, fair and delicate skin, and an endearing appearance. She wore goggles around her neck, and her still-developing figure was dressed in dark brown clothes and trousers, suitable for activities in ruins and the wilderness, reminiscent of an explorer.
She is well-behaved, quiet, and seemingly frail, yet one can sense a calm and strong soul hidden beneath her delicate appearance.
I tried to connect the little girl in this photo with the image of the small bowl in my memory, like placing the last piece into a puzzle that was almost complete. The little girl, whose name I knew, whose personality I knew, and whose past I knew so much about, but whose face I never knew, finally became whole in my heart. Perhaps only at this moment did I truly know her.
No, perhaps there's still something that's not quite right. I don't want to get to know her haphazardly; I want to truly meet and communicate with her. I want to see her speak to me as she truly is, and I also want to be able to interact with her closely as I am.
I must admit that in the past I only used the small bowl as a "prop" to keep Mazao, but unknowingly, I also developed a faint sense of closeness to the little girl who was struggling to survive in the apocalypse.
I wanted to help her—I'm sure this wasn't a spur-of-the-moment thought.
“Afterwards, we can make more copies of this photo and ask Zhu Shi and the others to help us look for other patients with amnesia who look the same,” I said.
Ma Zao nodded vigorously, then seemed to remember something and hesitated before speaking.
"Any other questions?"
As I asked questions, I continued to examine the small bowl in the photograph, some thoughts still lingering in my mind about how to effectively utilize its appearance to "find the corresponding patient with amnesia." Should I give it to Zhu Shi and the others first… Zhu Shi… Zhu Shi?
Zhu Shi's face flashed through my mind, seemingly serving as some kind of clue. I examined the small bowl in the photograph again and again. I wondered if I was imagining things, but the small bowl did seem to bear some resemblance to Zhu Shi. No, it wasn't imagining things; it was just a resemblance.
At first glance, it might be difficult to tell them apart, because Xiao Wan and Zhu Shi not only differ greatly in their development, but also in their temperament—or rather, in aspects similar to their facial features. "Appearance" and "facial features" are different; the latter includes many abstract and impressionistic elements.
Xiao Wan's face gives off an impression of being well-behaved and quiet, yet also seems to hold a lot of wisdom. She appears quick-witted, adept at learning and asking questions, but doesn't deliberately flaunt her intelligence. She's a child with a deep spirituality and a willingness to care for others' feelings. Perhaps because I know her situation and how considerate she is of others, I can't help but feel that she's a child so sensible it's heartbreaking.
Zhu Shi, on the other hand, is like a dashing knight-errant, strong and kind, though sometimes perhaps headstrong. Although he has a gentle side, he is decisive when it comes to making decisions, and on the battlefield, he will not hesitate to deliver the final blow to an enemy whose fate is unknown.
If Xiaowan is outwardly gentle but inwardly strong, then Zhushi is outwardly strong but inwardly gentle—two completely opposite extremes.
However, Zhu Shi also had times when she appeared gentle and tender in front of others—that was when she pretended to be a helpless female college student. The Zhu Shi I encountered a long time ago—actually not that long ago—was in that state.
She occasionally talks to me about herself back then, saying that she "deliberately acted a bit like a green tea bitch, and deliberately raised her voice." Although looking back now, her acting back then was not without its stiff parts, and her image in my mind has gradually shifted from "the gentle and graceful Junior Sister Zhu, like an ink painting" to "the ruthless demon hunter Zhu Shi," if you compare "Junior Sister Zhu" and Xiao Wan together, the sense of similarity—at least on the surface—is even greater.
Mazao probably has never seen Zhu Shi in her junior sister's form, otherwise she might have exclaimed that they looked very similar.
Thinking of this, I suddenly recalled the conversation that Ma had with Zhu Shi after they first met.
—Have we met somewhere before?
—Why are you suddenly asking this?
—I feel like I've seen your face somewhere before…
Perhaps noticing my strange expression, Ma Zao finally spoke up: "Zhuang Cheng... do you also think Xiao Wan and Zhu Shi look a bit alike?"
"It's not just a slight resemblance, is it? I think there's definitely some kind of relationship between Xiaowan and Zhu Shi."
Although I had no evidence, I still used rather strong language. I don't believe this coincidence is merely a coincidence, especially since this matter isn't entirely unrelated to Ma Zao, which further deepened my suspicions. There must be an underlying causal relationship involved.
Now, Ma Zao was a little insecure: "Does it really look that similar?"
"Have you done any research in this direction?" I asked.
It seems that Xiaowan and Zhushi's similarity in Mazao's mind is not high enough to raise an alarm, but she still said this: "I asked Zhushi privately if she had any relatives' children who were close to Xiaowan's age and were suffering from amnesia, but she said no. Not only did she not meet both conditions at the same time, she didn't even meet one of the conditions."
Considering that Mr. Zhu had killed all his brothers and sisters in his generation, I even suspect that Zhu Shi not only didn't have any "children of relatives who met the criteria," but didn't even know if he had any "relatives" at all.
Asaha seemed to have made the same connection, and her expression turned strange.
"Is that so? But considering that the apocalypse might be in the future, the children might not be those who exist now, but those who are born in the future..." I speculated.
Seeing my expression, she followed my line of reasoning: "For example, could Xiao Wan be Zhu Shi's daughter born in the future?"
If that's the case, then Xiaowan really is a person from the future, and we probably have to abandon the idea that "Xiaowan is a mentally unstable person from the modern world."
Even assuming that Xiao Wan is indeed a modern-day sufferer of amnesia whose soul has traveled to the post-apocalyptic era, this hypothesis cannot be based on the assumption that "Xiao Wan is related to the Zhu family by blood." As far as I know, it seems that only Zhu Shi's mother, Zhu Jiu, is currently suffering from amnesia in the Zhu family.
It's impossible that Zhu Jiu and Xiao Wan are the same person. What steps would it take to make Zhu Jiu become a young girl who looks a lot like her own daughter in the post-apocalyptic era?
Could the truth be that Zhu Jiu secretly cheated on her husband, had an illegitimate daughter, and then the daughter fell into a state of mental illness, her soul traveling to the post-apocalyptic era where she met Ma Zao? But based on the information I gathered about Zhu Jiu from Mr. Zhu, it seems unlikely that she would be a woman capable of having an extramarital affair… However, Zhu Jiu and Ying Lingyun's marriage doesn't even meet the standard of "perfect"; what if someone were to take advantage of this situation…
Wait, what am I gossiping about in my mind?
Ma Zao seemed to be struggling with other things as well. She muttered to herself, "If Xiao Wan is Zhu Shi's daughter, then if I change the future and cause Zhu Shi to not give birth to the child as originally planned, will Xiao Wan disappear?"
“Assuming the apocalypse isn’t the afterlife, but the real future, then your mere existence is a change to the future. But the future that Xiaowan lives in hasn’t changed much, has it?” I said.
She shook her head: "No matter how history changes before the end of the world, once the end of the world comes, everything will be painted with the colors of destruction. Our current activities may not have reached the point where they will bring about significant changes in the end times."
"Moreover, time and space in the apocalypse are constantly changing. Even if history does change, it may not be observable. Some survivors in the apocalypse may have disappeared due to historical changes, and some terrains and buildings may have changed, but these are insignificant compared to the frequent upheavals in the apocalypse itself. Moreover, Xiaowan has been living a life far from human habitation, making it even more difficult for her to notice."
"...But we can't let this hold us back, or we'll be unable to do anything." I was also thinking. "Besides, if we want to prevent Xiaowan from not being born in the future, then we not only need to keep an eye on Zhu Shi, but also find her father, right?"
"If Xiaowan really is Zhu Shi's daughter, then who is her father?"
"..."
Mazao's gaze lingered on me, and her expression suddenly froze.
(End of this chapter)
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